-our hope-

Jesus’ departure up and disappearing into a cloud were with his final words resounding in his disciples’ ears. ‘You will be my witnesses . . .” These words weren’t an assignment. They were a declaration. He might have said something like, ‘You will discover, to your astonishment, that you have become Truth tellers of all that I’ve told you.’ Or, he might have said, ‘You will forever see your lives reflecting mine in ways you’ve considered impossible.’ His entire time with them, his example, his teachings, his miracles, his healings, the promised joy, the Shalom, the hope of belonging, were all about to manifest in and through them.

John 14:1-3, Matthew 28:20, Acts 1:8

John 14:1-3 – Hope in a ________________________________________________

Matthew 28:20 – Hope in a ____________________________________________

Acts 1:8 – Hope in ____________________________________________________

Our Christian hope is that we are going to live with Christ in a new earth, where there is not only no more death, but where life is what it was always meant to be. Timothy Keller

Hope . . . is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks. Max Lucado